215. Vernay-Stockton House (FY 1675)
708 Manly Street
Contributing, ca. 1915
Largely hidden from street view, this unusual Craftsman style dwelling is located back from Manly Street and on the edge of the cliff above West End Boulevard The two-story house has a granite first story, a wood shingled second story, a gable roof with widely overhanging eaves, and an off-center gable end granite chimney. The north side yard is granite terraced, and a massive granite retaining wall borders the yard along the cliff above West End Boulevard. In 1983 a one-story addition was built to the NE corner of the house, but this has not destroyed the significant overall character of the house.
This house was the first one built on the Manly Street hill and was originally the residence of F.S. Vernay (or Fernay), who owned several lots along Manly Street According to local tradition, prior to the development of Manly Street for houses, the area was called the Granite Hill Quarries, and granite was blasted out of the hill (thus the cliff) for use in building roads in Forsyth County.
This house was depicted on the 1917 Sanborn Hap. In 1918 George Stockton purchased the property, and it became the residence of George and Nettie Stockton. The house remained in Stockton family ownership until 1948. Subsequently it changed ownership several times until it was purchased by the present owner-occupants, the Clifton Matthews family, in 1969. (OS, TR, CD)